Wednesday, 28 February 2018

Self-publishing service shark warning: guest-post by Ann Kelley

You'll know that I have often celebrated the freedom writers have these days to choose between a traditional and an independent route to publication. My guest today is Ann Kelley, who has previously featured on this blog here. I love her writing - her ability to observe the natural world is second to none. She has experienced success as a traditionally published writer, winning the Costa Children's Book of the Year with her novel The Bower Bird, the second in her enchanting and moving trilogy about Gussie, a young girl with a life-threatening illness, who is one of the most 'alive' people you will ever meet in fiction. The first in the series is The Burying Beetle and all are published by Luath Press.Ann has also published an ebook herself, of her novella On a Night of Snow. She went on to publish it last year as a lovely paperback with her own illustrations - and if you're a cat fan, this book should be catnip to you!I've invited her to guest-post, though, because she has a salutary tale to tell of the darker side of the self-publishing industry, where, sadly, there are still sharks cruising to exploit writers. I won't name the firm in question here - but if anyone is seeking to self-publish I strongly advise them to join the Alliance of Independent Authors, because they can provide recommendations of good service providers and warn you off the baddies and incompetents.Here's Ann's experience:

My
novella ON A MOONLIT NIGHT was first published as an Ebook (On a Night of Snow)
a few years ago under a different title. My editor, Jennie Renton, who had
worked on several of my published novels offered to set up the ebook for
me.

But,
I had started to draw, and was given encouragement by my teachers and others to
illustrate my own writing. I remembered the novella, and set to work
producing as many drawings of cats as I could.

ON A
MOONLIT NIGHT is the first book I have published myself, having had over twenty
books published by mainline publishers in the past.

Self-publishing
is an exciting project. I had an excellent, helpful designer - Peter Bennett,
who had worked with me on several other productions. He helped with choosing
the correct paper and card as well as designing the entire book, cover to
cover. And what a cover! That was fun! We couldn’t decide which cat to place on
the front cover, and in the end he presented me with the image of all the
cats I had drawn! I particularly asked for the end pages to be visually
exciting with flaps. Having complete control over the design was wonderful. I
recommend it.

However,
when it came to finding a printer things started to go very wrong. I got quotes
from several local printers but decided on X (London based) as
the price was considerably lower. A mistake!

The
designer sent the pdfs to them and they approved them. I ordered 250 copies. I
was offered a 10% discount if I paid upfront. I took up the offer - second
mistake! March 2017 I paid the discounted price of £1530.

The
printer kept promising that the courier was on his way. We had house sitters to
answer the door if they arrived when we were on holiday in Scotland. The books
failed to arrive, more promises and excuses, no books. By June I had
given up hope. The printer wouldn’t give us the courier’s tracking number. We
failed to reach the courier on one or on the phone.

He
said he would use another printer. I thought X was a
printer, but not so. He was just a middleman, it seems. Again no books.

The
printer promised to pay the full refund if the books didn’t arrive by that
weekend. No books. I phoned and politely said that I felt stupid, duped, that it
was a scam.

And
now, no refund apart from little dribbles of £10 and £20 - adding up to £150.
So I went to the Small Claims Court. What a palaver! Had to send them three
copies of all emails or correspondence between X and myself and pay court
costs. Quite stressful even thinking about it.

We
attended the court just before Christmas. No-one from X attended the court.
The judge went through the details carefully and found for me. She did say
thought that didn’t necessarily mean that I would get my money back. Was X a
limited company? No idea. I was naively expecting them to be honest with me. A
lesson learnt. PAY ON DELIVERY, NOT UPFRONT.

I
eventually went to a more expensive local printer, who delivered the
beautifully printed books for free. I don’t know if I will get my money back. I
don’t want to pay for bailiffs. But I won my case. Have kept all the copies of
emails, just in case…

Ann's book is a delight, in spite of all the travails! If you are interested in it you can email her to receive a buying link (contact me at info@fictionfire.co.uk and I will forward your message). You can also find out more about Ann and her other books, by visiting her website at www.annkelley.co.uk If you'd like to read the original story in ebook form, here's the link.

Finally, though a virus has derailed my plans temporarily, I will be launching my first online course very soon - if you're not already on my newsletter list and you want to be among the first to hear, then you can sign up here. You'll get a free productivity guide too!

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Distant Echoes

Selected winners and shortlisted stories from recent Historical Novel Society Awards, including my prizewinning story 'Salt'. Ebook and paperback published by Corazon Books

The Chase

Daphne du Maurier meets Joanne Harris in this evocative, compelling story of memory, guilt and loss. 'This is a haunting book ... set in the beautiful Dordogne, where past and present fuse in a page-turning mystery. I could go back to this again and again.' Alison Weir, best-selling novelist and historian. Ebook available on Amazon Kindle and Kobo. Paperback available on Amazon and direct from the online shop on my website http://www.fictionfire.co.uk

The Chase is recommended by Book Muse reviewers

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Fictionfire Literary Consultancy and Writing Academy

Visit my website https://www.fictionfire.co.uk/ to find out about my creative writing courses and workshops, along with the help I can offer you - manuscript appraisal, editing, consultancy and mentoring. Sign up via the website to receive my regular Fictionfire newsletter, with articles, tips, links, inspirational quotations and writing exercises.

About Me

I run Fictionfire Literary Consultancy at www.fictionfire.co.uk. I also teach at the University of Winchester's Writers' Festival and on various writing programmes for Oxford University. I've set up Fictionfire Press at www.fictionfirepress.com and have republished my novel, 'The Chase', previously published by Bloomsbury. I'm currently working on a historical novel (the opening of which has just won Words with Jam magazine's First Page competition) and a collection of historical short stories. My stories have won an Ian St James Award, been shortlisted for the Bridport Prize and longlisted for the Fish Short Story Prize. 'Reputation', a finalist in the Historical Novel Society's short story prize 2012, appears in 'The Beggar at the Gate'. My unpublished children's novel 'Hinterland' reached the shortlist of four for Macmillan's Write Now Prize last year. My chapter on Pre-writing appears in 'Studying Creative Writing', in the Creative Writing Series published by The Professional and Higher Partnership. My story 'Salt' won the Historical Novel Society's London 2014 Conference Story Award. Hell for me would be a desert island with no books - in fact anywhere with no books!